Ray Kroc

Every bun was balanced against every patty.

If the numbers didn't match, the manager knew immediately something was being wasted or stolen.

One choice Kroc made was he refused to get McDonald's into the supply business.

Many franchisors make money by marking up the supplies they sell to operators.

Kroc thought that that was a betrayal.

You can't serve two masters.

Either you're trying to help your franchises succeed or you're trying to make money off them.

So McDonald's worked with suppliers to lower their costs, better packaging, better delivery, better products.

This savings got passed on to franchisees.

Figuring out ways a supplier could lower his costs meant that he could afford to sell to a McDonald's for less.

Everyone pulled in the same direction, and suppliers grew with McDonald's because McDonald's helped them grow.

Kroc made another decision early on that turned out to be crucial.

He refused to put any pay telephones, jukeboxes, or vending machines of any kind in any McDonald's.

Many operators were tempted by the side income.

But Ray stood firm.

All of those things create unproductive traffic and encourage loitering that disrupts your customers, he explained.

It would downgrade the family image we wanted to create.

There was another reason too.

In some areas, vending machines were controlled by the crime syndicate.

Ray wanted no part of that.